Everyone has a Soulmate
by pasta16
Summary: He had had the perfect girl, and now she is giving him a second chance. A series of one-shots about The Murray and his soulmate, because why do only Sly and Bentley get one? Murray/OC.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey to all my royal readers and any new ones I may have..._

_My inspiration for this, Jammin Jabala's_ Murray's Past_....great story, go read it!_

_If any of you read my_ The Life and Times of BTK_, then you already know Zeya...this is just a cute little one-shot, where Murray starts to feel a little jealous of Bentley and Sly for what they both have. Major Murray/OC. And it wouldn't be one of my stories with out some major B/P._

_Also...ACTUALLY ANIMALS THIS TIME!!!! (I know, it's an apocalypse) _

_Song: "Love Song for No One" by John Mayer _

_Enjoy!_

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February 23, 2008

I walked out of the airport, hailing a cab. I handed him a slip of paper with the address on it. He responded in Dutch, and I just nodded and smiled. I was always glad to have Bentley and Sly when traveling the world, since they knew almost all of the languages. I knew English and some French, but only enough to ask where food is, and where the bathroom is. You _never _want to get them mixed up. After some traffic, we were alone in a middle of the fields of Holland. Nothing ever happened out here in the middle of nowhere, but I can see why Bentley and Penelope moved all the way out here. It was beautiful.

It had been sometime since I had last seen them. I had been in the middle of a circuit, racing my van all over in the U.S. But I was glad to be getting to see one of my best friend again as the seasoned ended. It had been six and a half years since I had Sly, and I was really starting to miss him. Every time I saw him on the TV with Captain Cooper, originally know as Inspector Fox, something gnawed at my stomach.

The ride was only a short 20 minutes, and I ended up at a one-story rancher (obvious reasons) and a barn in the back, and a large meadow surrounded the house. I paid the man, and hopped out, grabbing my bag. The front door opened, and I was surrounded by my nephews.

Now, if Bentley ever got his time machine to work, I knew the first thing he would do, is go back and make sure he never gets the crazy idea to have children. After only six months of dating, I got a phone call, saying my two favorite geniuses were getting married, and the Best Man was to fly down to Holland immediately. When I asked why so soon, he told me he mentioned to Penelope that he would want kids, and why bother waiting. A year after the wedding, Penelope had their first and second kid. Teddy and Tommy were twin turtles. A year after that, a mouse named Aaron was born. And two years following that, another turtle named Sammy was born. Aaron flew into me, following closely by the twins. Running very slowly, making sure not to trip over the weeds, the two-year-old toddler made his way into my hug.

The twins held onto my legs, the mouse hung around my neck, and I carried the toddler, with my bag in one hand. All of us were laughing, as the four small animals tried to bring me to my knees. In the door way, I could see Penelope shaking her head, and holding back laughter. Even after having four kids, she still had her very slim figure. But I guess anyone would if you have to chase after four little boys all day long. She had gotten a more womanly figure since having the children, and looked amazing.

"Hey Mur!" She said with a smile as I got closer. She was dressed in jeans and one of Bentley's shirts. Her hair was up in a ponytail with her bandanna, the hair no long it's long length as it was when we first meet her. To keep jelly, mud, and whatever else that cover her children from getting in her hair, she had had to cut it much shorter. Seeing her in Bentley's shirt, made me feel sick to my stomach in jealousy. I ignored it, and smiled at her.

"Hey! What, no more of these little guys for me to play with?"

"Not yet, at least." I turned seeing Bentley making his way up a path from the barn. It was where he worked on his inventions. He got paid for them now, and got to work at home with Penelope helping him out....when the children were passed out at night. The first rule my nephews grew up with was never to go near the barn. I looked back at Penelope, who, sure enough, was smiling. Perfect timing, the wind blew pushing her husband's shirt closer around her, reveling a small baby bump. I smiled wildly.

"Jeez. Six more months and another one, huh?" Bentley nodded, and Penelope smiled. The two had this weird superstition not to tell anyone that she was pregnant until she was done her first trimester. Bentley wheeled next to me, and almost got an heart attack as Aaron jumped from my back into his lap. He was dressed like his wife, and looked exhausted.

"Yep. We are trying to fill all five of the bedrooms in the house. We can stuff two to a room, meaning we can have at least three more after this one." Bentley said sarcastically. The small mouse clung to his dad's neck. Bentley pulled his arms around him, smiling down at him. He may complain and joke about it all the time, but he loved being a dad and having a huge family. Something he never had. And something I wished I had. "You guys go play, and we will have lunch soon, okay?" I let down Sammy, and he chased after his older brothers. We watched them run off, and Bentley add, " And stay away..."

"From the barn! We know dad!" Teddy and Tommy said turning to look at us, mocking him. He rolled his eyes at the two.

"So what is for lunch?" I said hungrily. Bentley nodded, looking at his wife.

Penelope giggled. "PB&J for the kids, and a triple-decker sandwich for you two?"

"Yum!" We walked into the kitchen, Bentley having some trouble maneuvering over the small toys on the ground. I could see him fingering the turbo-jump jets, but a few years ago, Penelope had almost taken his head of with a frying pan when he did it, since he scared baby Aaron out of his mind as he laid on a blanket on the floor and he scorched the wood floors. We talked about my racing, and my season, while they told me funny stories of what the boys did. Then I decided to bring up the whole purpose of my trip, besides the fact of seeing my friends and nephews.

"So Bentley...you going to the reunion?" Bentley started at me, trying to get me to shut up. I smiled, knowing he didn't want to go, but it was something Penelope would love to do.

"What reunion?" Penelope said curiously, as she made the six sandwiches.

"Nothing, dear." Bentley muttered, glaring at me with daggers.

"Our ten-year high school reunion. It's next month in New York." She looked at her husband, who refused to make eye contact. "We would meet all our old class mates, and we would actually see the school again. It will be awesome." Bentley looked at me, his thoughts focused on one thing. _I'm going to kill you._

"Bentley?"

"I wasn't invited." He said with a hiss.

"Bentley?" She said in a meaner tone, her hands were on her hips. She never got angry, always keeping her cool. But everyone, especially her husband and children, knew that when she got a little angry, you just give up and admit you were wrong. He looked at her, knowing he wasn't going to win this fight, and pulled a slip of paper from one of his compartments on his chair.

"I knew I should have burned it." She opened it up, reading it. The next ten minutes was me and Penelope trying to convince him to go. We would get to see our old high school, make fun of the people still stuck at Happy Camper Orphanage, and spend a night or two in New York City. Penelope mentioned that The O'Conner family owed them, when they baby-sat their five children for a week, and would be more then happy to look after the four children.

"Look, as nice as a vacation sounds, I don't want to go." Bentley said firmly.

"Bentley, three days away from the kids?"

"They aren't that bad..." Then, right on cue, scaring all three of us, Teddy came spinning across the floor on his back, his arms, legs, and head in his shell. On top, Aaron held on for dear life, as they flew into the fridge with large bang. Tommy and Sammy came in, just in time to see the crash, and laugh. They stayed still, but then Teddy moaned and Aaron sat up slowly, his fist in the air.

"TEN POINTS" He yelled, his brothers cheering along side him. I would have laughed, but I forgot how to breathe. Penelope's white fur with a purple ting was now completely chalk white. Bentley just shook his head, watching as the four idiots grabbed their lunch, and headed outside.

"When do we leave?" He asked shakily, trying to calm his nerves.

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March 27, 2008

I met Bentley and Penelope at the airport, as they landed in New York City. Them seemed very relaxed as they got off the plane. This would be their first time away from the children since Teddy and Tommy were born, and I would have thought they would be nervous, calling the O'Conner's every five minutes. We walked to the hotel we were staying at, and checked into our rooms. We decided to meet in New York City the afternoon before the reunion, and then spend the next day around the city, shopping and stuff. I could tell, thieving might be involved if we got board. It was something all three of us had stopped, yet still itched to do.

I changed into a polo, and brushed my teeth. Then I realized, she might be there.

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"Murray, just pay attention. You need to learn this stuff for the SAT's coming up soon!" Bentley yelled again. He had tried to get me and Sly to come to the library everyday, seeing we had our SAT's in two weeks. Sly managed to wiggle out of it, but I was stuck. I groaned, wishing I had a snack. "Look, I gotta get to work. Try to study some more ok?" I looked at my watch, and sure enough, it was five and Bentley had to go to work. Meaning I could leave with out him whining too much.

"Yeah, okay." As I said it, I started packing up myself. I could tell he was glaring, but I really wanted something to eat.

"Not even going to humor me?"

"Nope." I got the last book in my bag, and stood up, him glaring at me. Then I heard this soft voice behind me.

"I can help you if you like." I turned, meeting this girl. She was much shorter then me, but very cute.

"I would love some help. It will take a long time though." I said with a smile. She was a squirrel, with deep brown fur, long brown hair, and lovely brown eyes, and was in my grade. She smiled, and I smiled back. I started slouching more and more, looking into her grey eyes. Next thing I knew, Bentley was gone, and we decided to sit down and work. I forgot everything she said.

**cvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvc**

"Hey buddy. Ready to go?" I heard knocking on the door along with Bentley's voice. I spit out the rest of the toothpaste, and took a towel, wiping the rest from my lips. I opened the door, seeing Bentley in a shirt and tie, and Penelope along side him in a yellow sundress with her hair down and curled. Only once in a blue moon did she ditch the baggy clothes, and dress-up. In it, the baby bump was obviously noticeable, but she looked radiant.

"I'm ready. You two look good." Penelope blushed. We grabbed a cab, and took off for the hour drive to the high school campus. We pasted the orphanage, as dreary and depressing looking as it was when we lived there. In the rearview mirror, I saw Penelope rest her head on his shell, and he smiled. It must be nice to have someone to comfort you through all the hard stuff in your life. He had her, Sly had Carmelita, and I had....

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"Zeya Logrono? When, dude? How!" Sly asked, as soon as I walked into the room the three of us shared.

"I just asked after we studied for the SAT's. And she said a movie sounded awesome." I replied as if it was no big deal. In reality, it had taken me two hours to gain the nerve to ask her.

"Nice, man!" I laid down on my bed, having a pillow cover my head. Bentley, who was on the top bunk reading after his shift at the electronic store, reached his head down.

"So, what did you learn?"

"Her hair smells like strawberries. Nothing more then that." Sly laughed his head off while I knew Bentley was glaring at me. He was probably going to lecture me on not studying and blah, blah, blah...

"You just don't get it, pal. I really like her." I said through the pillow.

"Yeah, maybe if you went on a date sometime?" Sly said laughing.

"Please, all the girls in the school are idiots." Bentley hissed above me.

"They are hot idiots." Sly replied beside me in the desk chair.

"There is more to life then a girl being hot, Sly"

"No, no there isn't."

"Okay, just to prove you wrong. What about just looking into the eyes of someone you truly care about for hours, the smell of the first snowfall, learning something new and amazing that blows your mind away."

"Blah, blah, blah."

"Fine Sly. How about money being more important then a hot girl?"

"Now your speaking my language." I head a thump, probably from Bentley throwing his pillow at Sly. I ignored them, thinking about Zeya. She was perfect....

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We walked through the school doors, Bentley pissed off that he was actually here. We were surrounded by people at a table, looking for their name tags. They had our names and senior class pictures on them. Bentley and Penelope stayed off in the corner while I went to grab our tags. I saw "Scott Cooper" and I almost wanted to cry. I grabbed "Benjamin Key" and "Thomas Murphy" and made my way back to the couple. He whispered something to her, and she laughed. The same pain that gnawed at my stomach when I saw Sly on TV and whenever I saw them, happened just as I watched the two. I shook my head, tossing the badge at Penelope, who would get a laugh at the picture, before Bentley put it on. He was very geeky senior year, and Penelope couldn't help but crack a laugh as she handed it to him so he could pin it to his shirt.

"Laugh it up, because just remember...you married the class geek." He said glaring.

"That's why I love you, sweetheart." She replied, giving him a kiss on his cheek. He blushed, and I turned. I wasn't sure why, but I just wanted to hurt Bentley. I couldn't have been that jealousy, could I? I tried clearing my head, like the Guru taught me, and I started walking, and the two followed. The auditorium was filled with all sorts of animals I hadn't seen in years. People recognized me quickly, and I was bombarded with slaps on my back. No one really noticed Bentley, probably confused by the wheelchair and the hot blonde next to him.

"Benjamin!" I heard the voice and hid into the crowd. She was here, and now I was afraid to talk to her. I stayed close enough to hear them talk.

"Zeya! Wow, you look great."

"You too! It has been too long." There was a silence between them.

"It's a long story, Zeya." Of course, she had been looking at the chair. "This is my wife, Penelope. Penelope, this is a dear friend of mine, Zeya."

"It's nice to met you."

"Please, the pleasure is all mine. I have never met anyone from his past except Cooper and Tom."

"Oh, you sound really smart. A genius too?"

"Who else would you expect for me to marry Zeya?" Bentley said in his nasal voice.

"Very true. So....did you two come with Tom?" My heart stopped.

"He was right in front of us. You called, and we stopped, losing him. I'm sure you'll find him." I saw Zeya smile. The squirrel looked beautiful in her blue dress. I disappeared into the crowd again, and headed outside.

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I stood in the rain. My diploma was in my back pocket, getting soaked. I graduated high school with her help, and now I was leaving. And I couldn't even tell her. A year and a half of being together; she deserved a good-bye, yet how would I tell her. I just stayed there, looking at her house, hiding behind a tree.

How many movies had I seen with her, how many hours she spent teaching me, hours we spent daydreaming about the other. I should tell her that I was going to be driving the get away van for the Cooper Gang. I shook my head, and left, my face filled with raindrops and tears. Luckily, once I got back, no one thought it was the latter.

**cvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvc **

"Tom?" I looked up, seeing Zeya. I jumped up from the tree I was sitting against.

"I...uhhh....Zeya." I forgot how to work, my body just froze. She looked somewhere between relieved and shocked.

She smiled. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" I nodded, and she stepped closer. She grabbed me pulling me into a kiss, something I had wished for almost ten years. It felt like it would never stop, but the she pulled back, and did something that surprised me.

She punched me, hard. I landed on the ground, holding my jaw. "Okay, I deserved that."

"Yes, yes you did 'The Murray'." I looked up in surprise, as she said the words bitterly.

"You knew?"

"Please, a genius turtle, a stealthy raccoon, and a wrestling hippo? I'm surprised know one else knows." She hissed, sitting next to me on the ground, crossing her arms over her chest. I sat up, putting my arm around her.

"I'm sorry Zeya. It was just...I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you, or scare you. Or make you think badly of me."

"Well good job, because you managed all three."

I stayed quiet awhile. "I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that. I'm mad at you." She said crossly.

"Well, while your mad, would you like to go for a walk through the school?" Back before everything had happened, we used to walk the school halls when everyone was either in class or gone. She nodded, and I helped her up. We walked in silence for a long time. "I am really sorry. You know how much of an idiot I am. I mean, I left you behind. How idiotic is that of me to do?"

She laughed, but stopped herself. Out of a bag she was carrying, she grabbed a bit of string. "I found this outside my house after you and your gang left." It was the tassel that had a golden 98 on it.

"Thanks. I wondered where I had left it. I guess it dropped from my pocket..."

"When you tried to say good-bye but then ran?"

"Yes." I replied to her sullen tone. I pocketed the tassel and we walked, passing an old classroom. She tried the doorknob, but the door wouldn't open. "Mind if I try?" She stepped back, and I kneeled by the doorknob. "Do you have a bobby pin?" She nodded, taking one out from her hair-do.

"They must have locked them, to make sure our class didn't do anything stupid. So, I imagined you more of a guy that knocks the door open with his foot."

"I am, but Ben made me learn how to open doors without being noticed. I figured now is one of those times." She laughed, as I heard the doorknob click. I turned it, holding the door open for her.

"God, I can not remember the last time I was in here. I think I was sleeping though."

"I know I was sleeping. This was first period English class. It was way to early for that." She laughed again, and I knew she was starting to feel better. "So, have I said sorry yet?"

She smiled, looking at me. "I forgave you when I punched you. Your chin feeling okay?"

"The Murray feels no pain!" I mad a muscle, and she pinched it, and I muttered "Oww. That hurt." We both started laughing. She walked over by the window, and of course I followed.

"I remember just sitting under that tree over there with you, all day long. It was so peaceful."

"Yeah, then either Cooper would come over and start singing, or Ben would come, yelling at us to do homework or get to work."

"Life was so simple." She stared at the tree in the darkness, then turned to me. "So between being an amazing thief and racevan driver, any serious girls in your life?"

She dumbfounded me with her question. It had just come out of nowhere. "Nope. No one has really mattered other then you. What about you?" This time, she was stunned. It seemed like forever before she answered.

She blushed. "Well, I kinda...haven't been with anyone either." I smiled.

"Well, maybe if I could try again...." I held my breath. Bentley had Penelope. Sly had Carmelita. And I had had Zeya. And something all three of us had in common, was that spark we had when we first saw them. Sure, Bentley and Sly had to wait for the girl to get the message, but Zeya had to wait for me until I realized her. She had been waiting so long, and I didn't deserve someone like her....

"I would love that. But we are starting from the very beginning. Come on." She grabbed my hand, and she lead me to the hallway. For once, I wasn't confused where I was going.

We stopped, and we were by the library. "Jeez, I can't remember the last time I was here. I think I was carrying all the books Ben found belonging to the library that were under his bed and in our closet in the last week of school."

"I remember. There were so many, _you_ looked like you were going to fall over. Thank god Ben didn't have to carry them. He would have killed himself." She said laughing. I was glad. I pulled open the doors, and we walked in laughing. Something that I should have guessed would happened, freaked both me and Zeya out. Out of the dark and into the light that poured into the library from the hallway, Penelope bumped into us, straightening her dress.

"Murray, Zeya. What's up?" She said, slightly out of breath. I looked at Zeya, who looked at me.

"Nice hair, Penelope." Her hand flew to her head, feeling that her hair was no longer in it's neat and tidy curls.

"Well...you know. New look." She looked down the aisle that was in complete darkness she came from, and then back at us. Both me and Zeya couldn't help but laugh even harder. Bentley came rolling out, looked at us, and smiled

"Hey guys. Umm...they got some really nice books. You should check them out. See ya." He said quickly, his tie un-do and laying in his lap along with his shirt's buttons being in a few wrong holes. He left to go back to the party, followed closely by Penelope who was still trying to get her hair to lay down flat.

"Wow. Never in a million years would I have guessed him with someone in here." She laughed, watching as the door closed. She hit the light switch, so we actually saw the library.

"How about him having four boys, all under the age of five?" She started laughing again.

"Really? I mean, I guessed Cooper having a big family once he settled down, and you too. But not him."

"He is the only one out of the three of us with kids. Cooper is married though."

"The player is married? Oh jeez."

"He actually had been hooked on this girl since after high school. He saw no one else but her."

"I'll believe it when I see it. So....My name is Zeya, what's yours?" She reached out her paw, and I smiled.

"Thomas Murphy, but you can call me Murray. I am a master thief, but my day job is traveling the world as a racevan driver."

"Well, I am an interior designer, and get to travel all over New York City, re-doing snobby, rich people's houses." We both smiled, lost in each other's eyes.

"So, what are you doing Friday night?"

"Nothing?"

"Want to have dinner then?"

"I would love to, Murray."


	2. Chapter 2

So....to all my readers, do your remember _What If..._???

Do you remember when it was only one story???

And then it turned into a bunch of one-shots???

Well, starting school gave me a lot of inspiration.....SO TA-DA!!! More high school Murray and Zeya!!!!

Please read and review....I encourage flames and anonymous reviewers!!!

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The entire time she had been here, her eyes were huge, taking all of it in. "Penelope, I can not believe you got to live here your entire life."

"Well, it is very slow but peaceful. My dad just fell in love it when he was back-packing through Europe before he joined the Air Force. I'm glad you liked it." Zeya continued to stare at the fields of Holland. From on top of their house, you could see the sunset right on top of a field of tulips. She loved it.

It had been three months since the reunion, and Bentley and Penelope invited both of us to Holland. Zeya was more then happy to take a small vacation with me and see Bentley and his family. She had been amazed that Ben truly had four boys, along with a fifth boy coming in only two months. And yes, Bentley was "so very happy" to being having yet another boy.

Right now, the twins sat with me, the two mice were sitting together, and Ben had the infant in his arms. Sammy, starting to get a little crank, started crying, and Bentley instantly started to rock him to sleep. That was when Zeya started to laugh.

"What?" Bentley said, raising a brow.

"I'm just so surprised to see you as a dad. I mean, look what happened senior year." I started doubling over in laughter, while Penelope tried to figure out what was going on.

"We agreed never to talk about that." Bentley hissed, leaving me and Zeya laughing even harder; Penelope even more confused.

"It was our senior year, in Home Economics class....." I said, starting the story. It was one we all loved, yet Sly and Bentley wished never happened.

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I had always liked Home EC class. It was an easy class where all you did was sew and make food. And waking up to get to school for first period Home EC class made my day start brilliantly. For the first three years, I had been the only guy in a class of twenty girls, which I never minded, of course. This year, people like Bentley with no art or music skills, need to take the class to get creativity credits to graduate. Other people like Sly, took the class because for the past three years, they got kicked out of art and music class for messing around.

The first semester had been fun as always, me and Zeya partners for everything thankfully. Bentley hid in his corner, while whatever guy that got stuck with him, cooked. On the second day, Bentley managed to blow apart an oven, but fix it before the teacher noticed. The class took a vote, allowing him never to touch anything, and just let him keep to himself with a book. Sly would charm whatever girl he was with into baking the cookies or cooking the meatloaf for him. Me and Zeya were the best team, her being brilliant at sewing and such, while I cooked everything. That, and punching a guy out, was the only things I was good at.

But the start of second semester was a bit different, and I tried to get Sly and Bentley up early so they wouldn't be late. They ignored me as always, so I gave up and left to be on school on time. Now, fifteen minutes after the start of school, we were in boy-girl pairs, ready to get our assignment, when the two raced in. Bentley looked out of breath and looked like he was going to die, and Sly was wide awake, but also out of breath, after running the 5 miles to school.

"Mr. Cooper, Mr. Key. Thank you for joining us today." The teacher, Mrs. Yanni, said crossly.

Sly muttered, "Our alarm clock didn't go off." Bentley nodded, and both stared at me. They were mad that for once, I left the orphanage without dragging them out the door. I just smiled, knowing what was going to happen next since they aren't "morning people".

"Well, with only having 10 girls and 12 boys, you two will be the alternative parents." Clearly, both of them had still been asleep, and didn't quite get what she meant.

"Wait, what?" They said together. Miss. Yanni replied by handing them a small doll of a tiger.

"Meet your new baby, boys. Congratulations, it's a boy."

"BUT HE WILL KILL HIM!" They yelled together, the turtle pointing at the raccoon, and vice versa.

"He will end up blowing it up with dynamite or something!" Sly yelled, pointing at Bentley.

"He will end up leaving him in a bath tub!" Bentley yelled back. Sly stared at Bentley, clearly confused.

"How is that going to kill a baby..." Both Bentley and Mrs. Yanni looked at Sly with a mindblowing killer glare. "Oh, right. Babies can't swim..." He muttered. "BUT HE WILL BLOW HIM UP!!!" He yelling, turning back to the turtle.

"Let's put it this way, if you two kill the baby, you will fail the project. Fail this, and you will fail the class." Both of the gulped. Both needed the credits to graduate, and since we were going to be going after the Fiendish Five once we graduated, Sly would despise summer school more then Bentley; If it was possible.

Sly grabbed the baby, and the two headed for their new seats. He threw the tiger cub onto the table, making it cry. For a half hour, both Sly and Bentley tried everything they knew to get it to shut up:

-Sly threw it as Bentley, yelling at him to fix it.

-Bentley pulled out a screwdriver, and started working to find the controller for the crying.

Let's just say, Mrs. Yanni did like the new parents approach for the problem.

**********

"I can't believe we got detention for being late AND trying to massacre a baby. Why the hell would you pull out a screwdriver on it?"

"What did you think I was going to do?! It is a machine, and that is what I do with broken machines. What did you expect?"

"Well, you sure bicker like a married couple."

"Shut up, Zeya!" They yelled together. Pretty much the entire school was laughing at them. It was pretty hilarious. And them yelling up and down the hallway, was making it just that much more funny. Me and Zeya followed them. She carried our tiger cub with such care, while they played hot potato with theirs.

"I'm not taking this thing to Calculus class!"

"Well, I can't play baseball in gym with this thing crying!"

Bentley tossed the baby at Sly, who didn't catch it. They looked at the crying thing on the floor, and then went their separate ways, one heading for Room 209, while the other headed for the gym. Each thought the other would turn around and grab the baby for the grade, and just kept walking. We watched them, and then Zeya turned to me. "I'm thinking 10 dollars an hour for baby-sitting charges."

"20, or we burn it." I said laughing. "I'll take him no my English class, if you take....what are we naming him?"

"It's a her, Tom. And I'm thinking Lily." She smiled down at the fake doll.

"Sounds good. See you at lunch." I kissed her, running with my new nephew to my class.

**********

"Tom, I'm not paying you forty dollars." Sly said to me and Zeya later that day at the end of lunch period.

"Agreed. It is luscious that you want money for it." Bentley said out of breath. Both of them weren't happy, after going to lunch, and seeing the other didn't have the kid. They started freaking out, and running all over the school looking for it. They came back to the cafeteria empty-handed, to realize that I had the baby all along. I took another bite of chicken.

"Either give us forty dollars each, or I tell Mrs. Yanni." I said, bits of chicken flying onto the table. They looked at each other, and dug out eighty dollars. Zeya laughed as they moaned, handing the money to us. I tossed them their kid, and immediately, it started crying.

**********

**Day One 16:00**

**T-minus 160 hours.**

"Can you please just make it stop cry!!!"

"Shut up, Sly! I need to concentrate." Bentley leaned over his desk, the baby face down on the table. It's back was open, and wires and such poured out of it.

"You know, you could just pay me to take care of him."

Sly looked at me, a glare spread a crossed his face. "Not a chance. I would need to rob all of England to pay your ridiculous 20-dollar-an-hour price." I smirked, and he feel onto his bed, pulling the pillow over his head. "BENTLEY!!!!!!!!!"

"I almost have it.....oh shit." Both me and Sly looked at Bentley. He mouthed, _Get out_.

_Why? What is going on? _Sly asked. Bentley looked really worried.

_Just get out, now! _He mouthed urgently. Sly jumped up and went out our bedroom door. Me and Bentley followed, leaving the baby on the table. Both me and Sly looked at him with worried looks. "Mrs. Yanni is a genius."

"What? Why?"

"She has a recording device in it. That is how she tells if we pass or fail. It also has a timer: If it cries for more then 12 hours, the battery dies, and we fail the project. I could come up with something to trick the timer, but it would take me at least two weeks. We have to give this thing back next Monday morning. That gives me less then a week."

"Great, and another problem. We have been calling each other Sly, Murray, and Bentley for the past hour. Oh, and I said I was going to rob all of England." Sly said, slumping onto the floor of the hallway.

"Right now, it is no big deal. Like you said, it had only been from the time between school and getting back here. She won't listen to the whole recording. What we do need to do, is make it stop crying, or we fail. We have about 160 hours until Monday morning at 8 o'clock."

"Again, I offer my baby-sitting service." You would think after awhile, someone would get tired of glaring, but not these two.

"Okay, so all we need to do is take care of this thing. Bentley, have fun." Sly said, leaving.

"Fine, I'll take him now. I hope you have fun on your dates Friday and Saturday night with that thing." Bentley yelled back, making Sly stop in his tracks.

"Okay, what do you want?" Sly said, Bentley giving his own little smirk.

**********

**Day Two 8:30**

**T-minus 143.5 hours**

All three of us were tired. All night long, the baby would start crying, and Bentley and Sly took alternating turns trying to get the thing to shut up. Bentley figured with all the crying, they only had about 5 hours before the battery died. The three of us slept in, missing our bus, and arrived late to school exhausted, seeing all the other parents did fine. We were warned by Mrs. Yanni, one more late during this one week project, we would fail. We nodded, and headed for our seats.

"We you three look amazing." Zeya comment, as I sat down.

"It cried all the time, and we found out something really interesting." I looked at the "innocent" devil, Lily. "I'll tell you later. But right now, Ms. Puffin is pissed at us for keeping everyone up last night with the crying."

"Really? Lily did great. I had no trouble. Will you be able to take her tonight?" She asked, knowing I was already stuck with one kid.

"Nah, I got it. You deserve some rest to, babe."

**********

**Day Three 1:00**

**T-minus 127 hours**

"Wahahahahaha!!!"

"Your turn!"

"Hell no Cooper, it's your turn!"

"I did it last time!"

"Did not, I did!"

"ONE OF YOU TWO BETTER SHUT THAT PROJECT UP, OR I'M MAKING YOU TWO SLEEP OUTSIDE!!!" At the sound of Ms. Puffin, Sly jumped of his bed, and Bentley jumped off from the top bunk, in the bunk bed me and him shared. They started shushing their project, knowing Ms. Puffin would make them sleep outside in 10 degree weather. I stayed in my nice warm bed, holding Lily, who had only cried once all day. Thankfully, when their project started to cry, Lily didn't start too.

**********

**Day Three 7:00**

**T-minus 121 hours**

"I cannot do this for five more days." Sly said, as we dragged ourselves though the snow to the bus stop.

"We may not have to. The timer is down to it's last hour. We are already screwed." Bentley said sullenly.

"Come on guys! Just try a bit more." I said. It was crazy that I may be the only one NOT in summer school.

"Well Tom, how do you do this?" Bentley asked, ignoring my optimism.

"Well, you need to care for it. I think it cries when it get cold, so hold it a lot. Instead of sticking it on a desk, bring it to bed with you. Don't toss it around like a football. Name the thing, so you feel somewhat attached to him."

"It is an it, not a him." Sly said, cutting me off. Both of them started laughing at me.

"Fine, ignore me and say I'm crazy. I'll pass, and you two have fun in summer school." I passed by them, decided to walk to school instead of using the bus. Even since we were young, I had been looking forward to graduating Senior year. Knowing me and my two brothers would be traveling the world, stealing stuff, was awesome. It was the only reason I didn't just drop out and work for the car garage full-time. We said together, we would finish Senior year, and go. If I quit, then I wasn't allowed to go.

But now, those two were going to screw it up.

I walked into the school entrance, a whole half an hour before school started. It had been so mad, I pretty much ran the entire way here. I ran into Zeya, who was always here early to swim in the pool, and she could tell I was upset.

"Come on. The bakery across the school is open. We will get something, and come back, okay?" I nodded, and I put my arm around her, as she grabbed Lily from me. I didn't tell her most of it, seeing it would have been recorded, and she didn't know what my plans were. All I kept muttering was that I was tired from lack of sleep and I was going to kill Ben and Cooper.

"Don't be so upset. It will almost be over, and they will eventually pull their way out of this mess." I nodded, and we headed to class.

Sitting in the front row, since that was the sat two sets when they came late only a few days ago, Bentley and Sly were there. Bentley had holding the baby awkwardly, while Sly was writing something on a post-it note. He rip the page off the pad, and stuck it to the baby cub's forehead. It said "Sly Cooper, Jr."

"He's name after his dad." Sly told me proudly. Bentley gave a swift kick to Sly, as he told me. I grinned really big. For once, they were listening to me.

"How come Ben is the mom?" Zeya asked, loud enough so everyone heard. They started laughing, and Bentley quickly went from a green shade of color to a bright pink.

"I lost at rock, paper, scissor, shoot." He muttered. Sly laughed next to him.

"Tom, we are going to pass, so don't look like we already failed. Only like five more days, right?"

"Yeah." I said, the huge grin still on my face.

**********

**Day Five 19:00**

**T-minus 61 hours**

It was Friday night, and me and Zeya were planning to go to the movies. Her mom agreed to watch our project for us tonight, saying we had done such a good job. The movie started in an hour, and I had forgotten my wallet. I raced home, and started down the hall, into my room, when I heard Sly.

"Well, honey. I'm off to go meet with my mistresses." Sly ran out the door, ducking a shoe that was thrown at his head.

"Stop it, creep!" We both started laughing, and he took off.

"Hey mommy." I said with a smile.

"Whatever." he said sourly, the baby upside-down in his lap as he read a book."

"One day, you will make one awesome parent." I said sarcastically.

"More of these damn things? I can't even take care of one robot for a week, and you think I will be able to keep something alive for 18 years?"

"Come on, you know you like it." I said with a laugh.

"I hate children and will never have one." He said firmly. (A.N. Bentley has just turned 18 in this one-shot, and Teddy and Tommy will be born when he is about to become 23...lol)

"Whatever. I'm off. Have fun playing house." I had forgotten that shoes come in pairs, and got whacked on top of the head by the second one. His aim was getting really good; I was surprised that Sly had managed to duck earlier.

**********

**Day Eight 5:00**

**T-minus 3 hours**

We were all awake, and all on edge. Bentley had checked the timer again, and it said that if Sly Jr. cries for more then two minutes, they would fail. The three of us were on the edge of our seats all night, ever since Bentley told us the countdown. We did everything possible to make sure that the cub didn't cry.

"How much longer, Ben?" Sly asked nervously.

Bentley yawned, looking at his wristwatch. "3 hours."

"Okay, we can do this, right?" He said, sounding unsure.

"Well, if you fail, you can always ask to re-do the project again." I said with a smirk.

"Failure is not an option." Bentley said firmly.

"Where is that from?" We said together. Usually we would just ignore him and his many quotes, but we were trying to stay awake.

"It was used in the Apollo 13 movie. Jerry C. Bostick was part of the mission control for it, and told the script writers, Al Reinart and Bill Broyles, during an interview that Mission Control never panics. 'No, when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and _failure was not one of them_. We never panicked, and we never gave up on finding a solution.' Jerry immediately sensed that Bill Broyles wanted to leave and assumed that he was bored with the interview. Only months later did Jerry learn that when they got in their car to leave, Bill started screaming, 'That's it! That's the tag line for the whole movie, _Failure is not an option._'"

"Wow, that was really...boring." Sly said, yawning. "Got anything better, Murray?"

"Nope."

"Okay. So Bentley, where did some other random quote come from." We started laughing, but Bentley was too tired to yell back.

**********

**Day Eight 7:37:13**

**T-minus 42 minutes and 46 seconds**

"Tommy?" I heard a little voice say. I waved it away, deep in sleep and not wanting to wake up. "Tommy?" The voice said louder.

"Huh?" I answer.

"You three are going to be late!" I opened my eyes, seeing another kid that lived here. She was a small kangaroo, around 4 years old. Next to me, Sly was sleeping, with Bentley laying his head on his shoulder. Both of the were holding the baby.

"GUYS!!!!!!!!!!" I yelled, waking them up. After the awkwardness of them waking up together, they started running around with me, to get ready for school.

"Time?" I yelled, pulling on a shirt.

"13 minutes before first bell!" Bentley yelled, grabbing his bag, while holding Jr. in his arms. Zeya had Lily, so I didn't have to worry about that.

"Let's go!" We raced outside, passing a very angry Ms. Puffin and all the toddlers. We raced through the snow, trying to get to school.

"Bentley, catch." I yelled throwing my bag at him.

"I can't run and carry this...ahhh!" In one swift move, I threw him across the icy road, where he slid much faster then he would ever run, and me and Sly took off running after him. We had no time to waste. Sly threw his bag to Bentley, who reached out his arm grabbing it. It was pretty funny for anyone who was watching. A raccoon holding a baby cub, a hippo running in the middle of the street, pushing a turtle who was stuck on his back across the icy road, who was carrying three backpacks.

But, we made record time.

**********

**Day Eight 7:59:45**

**T-minus 15 seconds**

We raced into the class room, completely out of breath, but on time. The bell rang as we entered the classroom. We took seats. We knew we didn't look good. Sly was out of breath, and his fur was all matted from the sweat. Bentley was covered in a nasty, smelly water from the road that had melted and looked sick from spinning so much. And I looked ready to die from running that whole way.

Mrs. Yanni was flabbergasted, looking at the three of us. She kept quiet, taking the baby from Ben. "Well, how did you two like being fathers?"

Ben looked at Sly, and Sly looked at Bentley. "Never again." They said together.

"Good. You two get an A+. Now everyone, the goal of the project was not to have fun, but to realize how much work this is. And theses two, along with Mr. Murphy, have found out what it really would be like. Now, for our next project...."

**********

"You don't realize how badly you smell, Bentley." Sly said, as we walked out of first period, with a good grade. He glared at Sly.

"There is no way I'm going to Chemistry like this." He said sullenly, and we followed to see where he was heading. We thought he might go to the showers, but he didn't have any spare clothes. He entered the pool room, and before we could stop him, he jumped into the deep end, literally, without taking off any of his clothes.

"BENTLEY!!" We yelled, just as the P.E. class came in. The teacher, a walrus, ran over, seeing what was going on.

"Mr. Key! What are you doing!" Bentley clawed at the edges, pulling himself up.

"I tripped." He said bluntly. Me and Sly started rolling on the ground laughing.

**cvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvc**

"All in all, it was the worst week of school ever." I said finishing the story.

"Did we really need to add the part about me sliding across the ice?"

"Yes." Me and Zeya said together.

Penelope and their kids were getting a kick about what "mommy" did in high school. "Got any other good stories, Murray?" Penelope asked.

"Plenty." I turned to the twins. "Wanna hear how you dad got stuck in the library for three whole days?"

Everyone cheered and laughed, while a certain turtle muttered under his breath.


End file.
